Fascinations, Part 2

As I mentioned yesterday, one of my latest fascinations is mail boxes! (“Letter boxes” for those of you in the UK.) These are disappearing around the US too, just like parking meters. Replaced by safer and more efficient shared post boxes, these are a bit of life that is going away. I remember the excitement as a child, of putting up that flag when the box had mail and seeing it down later in the day after the postman had come. I would run to see what had arrived in the mail. It’s sad, I don’t even have one in front of my house now. We walk up the street with a key to see what arrived, and it’s usually junk. Bills don’t even come anymore, they are sent via email.

Mail boxes are a symbol of so much else disappearing too, personal mail and the written letter. We all love to get mail but how often do we send it? Not so often. That’s why the Liberate Your Art postcard swap was so much fun for many of us. For a little while, we got fun mail!

In honor of little-used mail boxes everywhere, let’s all send a postcard or a letter or a note to someone we care about today. I’ve got my pen out now! Won’t you join me?

I love mail boxes too. I love the look of them, so many shapes and sizes and colors and designs. And I love that they hold wonderful surprises almost daily. When you think on it, it's almost magic. I've a stack of personal mail ready to send, new pix pen pals, because like you said its so much fun to receive something personal in the mail.

What a great idea. I'm in. I was just talking to a friend this afternoon and he said he had sent me a package. I got so excited. Just bills and ads in the mail usually. I'm all for reviving the fun of going to the mailbox. Thanks for the post…

I still love the art of writing a note or card to a friend, but other than birthday or Christmas rarely receive one, or one that actually says something other than a signature or short trite message.But, I do still have a mailbox, with red flag. Just sent a note to a friend going through a rough spell yesterday. What a great idea to encourage people to snail-mail.

Kat, I do plan to send a note today to a friend who is hurting. And yes, it seems more often than not, I pick up the mail and throw the whole bunch in the recycle bin without opening a thing. Things are definitely changing….phone booths have been disappearing and we also found it pretty challenging to get a newspaper on our travels.

Speaking of mail…I got the mousepad and note yesterday! Thank you! I was all set to take the mousepad to the office when my 7 year old begged to keep it for use with our home computer. The picture of the scooter makes her happy, she said! Thanks again!

i don't see any mailboxes in nyc. i actually have a mail slot in the door to my apartment where the mail gets delivered every day! not a common situation around these parts, but it's an old building with some longstanding amenities and customs.